VANCOUVER, British Columbia (Ticker) -- Terrell Brandon scored
18 points and keyed a third-quarter run as the Minnesota
Timberwolves coasted to a 105-81 victory over the Vancouver
Grizzlies.

Minnesota led by just three points at halftime, but started the
second half on a 14-6 burst to take control. Brandon was the
key contributor in the surge with six points.

Wally Szczerbiak added 19 points and Kevin Garnett chipped in
with 15 and 14 rebounds for the Timberwolves, who won for the
fifth time in their last six games.

Minnesota was playing its first road game in North America this
season after splitting a pair of games with Sacramento in Japan
to start the season.

Othella Harrington tallied 20 points and Shareef Abdur-Rahim had
15 and 11 rebounds for Vancouver, which could not rebound from a
disappointing loss against Seattle on Thursday, when it blew a
10-point lead in the final 99 seconds.

"I thought they really turned up their intensity in the third
quarter," Grizzlies coach Brian Hill said. "We didn't move the
ball like we did in the first half. We did not respond to their
intensity. As a result, we failed to execute defensively. I take
responsibility for that."

After the Grizzlies pulled within 57-56 early in the third
quarter, Peeler converted a layup and had a dunk sandwiched
around a jumper by Brandon to trigger a 12-2 burst.

Brandon, who connected on 7-of-13 shots, capped the run with a
layup with 5:05 left in the period that pushed the lead to
69-58.

"Guys are running the lanes well, making it real easy," Brandon
said. "I'm starting to feel a lot more confident on offense. In
Cleveland, I was more of scorer. Here I got guys around me that
can score. It's just my job to get them the ball."

The Timberwolves shot an impressive 55 percent (44-of-80) while
holding Vancouver to just 38 percent (28-of-73). They also also
garnered a 47-37 rebounding edge.

Szczerbiak had the best game of his young career, connecting on
8-of-11 shots.

Minnesota held a 12-point cushion entering the fourth quarter
before putting the game out of reach with a 14-6 run to start
the period, capped by a layup from Malik Sealy with 2:42 to go
that opened a 94-74 advantage.

"I thought we ran the break real well," Minnesota coach Flip
Saunders said. "I thought we had good balance. I thought K.G.
did a great job against Reef (Abur-Rahim)."